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Boutique hostel right in the centre of Moscow. Walking distance from all the main sites. In a city with crazy hotel prices, this is a great little option. It's in a converted communal apartment (but with all mod cons) so you feel like you're staying in the 'real' Moscow rather than a soulless chain hotel. V friendly and helpful staff complete the homely experience.
Petrovka Street 17/2, Moscow, www.petrovkaloft.com
It sounds like a romantic way to cross the vast open spaces of Russia, leaving Moscow one evening and awaking to the Romanov's splendid Baroque capital. However the beds are cramped and uncomfortable, the train rattles far too much to get much sleep, and the toilets are disgusting. There was a certain charm to watching snow-covered fields and forests pass by in the half-light, but I suspect the view (particularly of a vast lake at one point) would have been all the more stunning during the day, and I wouldn't have felt like a zombie the day after.
Leningradsky Station, Moscow
Chain of cheap-and-cheerful veggie cafes. Portions are small so order two - it's still a cheap meal. Menu changes constantly and English spoken if you're lucky.
Several locations around the city.
www.t-most.ru/
All-American diner in the heart of Moscow (several locations). Great value breakfasts with unlimited coffee, free English-language papers and CNN.
Several outlets across the city.
www.starlite.ru/index2.html
This small museum houses a massively worthwhile exhibition. Though it's virtually all in Russian, I would also encourage non Russian-speakers to visit. If you know something about GULAG already, you'll find the artefacts and artworks fascinating. If you are visiting Moscow and don't know anything about GULAG; you need to learn. I was made to feel very welcome and given a personal guided tour.
16, Petrovka St.
museum-gulag.narod.ru/
It's right in front of Bolshoi theatre in Moscow. This hotel is like 100% pure Russia. It's decorated by the famous Russian painter Vrubel, and they also house one of the best restaurants in Moscow. Once this was the place where Rasputin made his famous Moscow's "pir" - big "out of rules' party.
1/4 Teatralny proezd, Moscow, Russia,
www.city-of-hotels.com/168/legendary-hotels-en/metropol-moscow-en.html
metropol-moscow.ru/en/
The only way to view the greatest of the treasures in St Petersburg Hermitage Museum is on a private tour. You will need a guide and an appointment, both of which can be arranged by Exeter International, a specialist tour operator with offices in the UK and Russia. What you will see there will blow your mind.
Exeter International
020 8956 2756
www.exeterinternational.co.uk
Assuming you can get a flight, there is still some cheap accommodation in Moscow.
The Voschod Hotel say they have doubles available for 2,400 rubles per night (about £25 each). Be prepared for a very basic facility though. The Hotel Sovietsky (a deliciously kitsch venue just north of the Garden Ring) have rooms for 7,200 rubles - £156. The Warsaw Hotel has singles for 4,300 rubles (about £94) and doubles for 6,250 (about £135 or £68 each). Like Home Apartments have flats available before and after the match.
And if you need a visa try Real Russia: they’re among the cheapest, and you’ll be able to track progress of your application online.
voschod.ru/en/
www.sovietsky.ru
Warsaw Hotel - tel: 495 238 7701
www.likehome.ru
www.realrussia.co.uk
Do not bring old, dirty US bills. They won't accept a bill prior to 1990 or one that's dirty, torn, or grungy. Go get some fresh, crisp bills from the bank - $50 in ones, then fives, tens and twenties.
Fantastic hostel in an unbeatable location within a stone's throw of the Kremlin and Red Square. Experience the decidedly un-Chinese Kitay-Gorod (Chinatown) area of Moscow for only 700рб per night. Can issue visa invitations too.
Maliy Zlatoustinskiy, Moscow 101000
+74956286695
www.napoleonhostel.com
It's a five star hotel which has a bar called the Conservatory on the top floor. The service is excellent and the atmosphere is very relaxed. The cosmopolitans are some of the best in Moscow.
4 Ulitsa Neglinnaya
It's quirky decorated, but very small and cosy. Stayed there on my last trip to Moscow. Only two rooms, but very central and cheap. Great alternative to hotels as much cheaper. Nice staff and great location.
www.flamingobed.com
metro: mayakovskaya
Me and my girlfriend (we are a lesbian couple) traveled from Moscow to Ekaterinburg, and on to Volgograd. The trip was amazing. We were a bit worried about traveling without male company, but I must say Russia is one of the friendliest and untouristy places I've ever been.
It is a big advantage to know some Russian. Outside of Moscow we met nobody who spoke English. I found Moscow very stressful and expensive. It was the least pleasant city we visited. Our next stop was Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan. I highly recommend Kazan. It's an old, beautiful and exotic city with a mix of Tatars and Russes living there. The atmosphere was far more relaxed than in Moscow.
Kazan offers great mosques, and is the Muslim centre of Russia. It's a great place to relax and stroll about. This city has some stunning sights, including the UNESCO listed Kreml.
Our next stop was Ekaterinburg. We were told that it was situated in the Ural mountains, but we never saw a glimpse of them. Nevertheless; Ekaterinburg is a very pleasant and chilled city. It has a very western feeling to it. It's easy to find western food, as there's plenty of Irish pubs there. I recommend going to the Altay building. There you can take a lift and see the city from the rooftop. It's quite stunning. There's plenty of theatres all around the city, and even though you don't understand Russian, don't miss the opportunity to catch local theatre-troops.
A great place (although hard to find) to stay is the guesthouse called Academy of Geology. It's peaceful and has beautiful rooms.
From Ekaterinburg we went south to Ufa. Ufa is the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan. Ufa was quite hard to get around, but it is still worth a visit. You can visit one of Lenin's homes and spot some unique architecture. The atmosphere in Ufa is, like in Kazan, very different from the Russian cities. I highly recommend the Azimut hotel (Bus stop Gore Moskva). It's a business hotel with great standards and a friendly staff.
On to Volgograd. Volgograd is probably one of the most beautiful cities I've been to. Situated on the banks of the Volga river with an almost tropical climate, it almost feels like you're in Greece. This is a city of history. The name Stalingrad might ring a bell. The most stunning thing to see in Volgograd is the huge Mother Russia statue. It's the highest statue in the world (72 m). It's an unbelievable sight when you compare it to a church that stands beside it. It looks more like a doll's church.
I also recommend the Stalingrad Battle museum, and the Volga river cruises. There are plenty of offers. Volgograd was really easy to get around in. The city centre is quite small, and it's easy to navigate because of the river. The Volgograd Hotel is cheap and amazing.
We had a wonderful time in Russia. My girlfriend knows some Russian and that came in extremely handy. We got quite used to people looking at us, but we never felt threatened or harassed. The most common comment we got from other women was that we were brave to travel by ourselves.
One thing that is difficult however, is buying train tickets. You will need to write down the information for the train you are going on, how many tickets you need, and what kind of cupee you want. And prepare for long lines. It might take hours to get your tickets. We always went in a 4-people compartment. It was a great way to travel. We shared compartments with so many different people, and it was a great way to get to know Russians. It's important to bring some food or beverage to share.
Girls; go to Russia. It is a fascinating place....
If you want to see some of the surrounding countryside and villages, then a leisurely boat trip on the Volga is a good way to do it.
These run mainly during the summer and one of the most popular trips is to Tolga, taking about an hour each way.
There are also somewhat faster hydrofoil services to Kostroma, an hour and a half each way.
Trips are from the river station on Pervomayskaya Ulitsa.
This is probably the most beautiful of the churches in the city. It’s worth walking all the way round, especially if you want to photograph it, as the pleasing collection of domes move around each other as you walk, offering sometimes surprising perspectives.
There is a warning that the church will be closed during wet spells, but I’m not sure if this is to help preserve the interior or whether it has a leaky roof. If you do venture inside you’ll find some of the best frescoes on the Golden Ring circuit.
Sovetskaya Square
It's a very good bed and breakfast, very nice managers, good location and affordable prices.
Another lovely small cosy place I visited, it's behind the metro station Mayakovskaya, cosy and as central as it gets. Clean rooms and lovely staff. Will for sure stay there again.
Metro Mayakovskaya, www.kitainn.com
The people were so friendly there and they have an amazing balcony that overlooks the whole of Moscow. We had so much fun out on the balcony, it's 20 meters long and connects all the rooms, so we naturally met the other people who stayed there. Sophie, one of the owners served up fresh coffee every morning, exacly what I needed after a heavy night out.
Next to Metro Mayakovskaya, Bolshay Sadovaya. www.topfloormoscow.com
Feodor Volkov, son of a local wealthy merchant, founded the theatre in 1750. It was the first professional public theatre in Russia and went on to become an important centre for the development of actors, which it remains to this day. The current building, on the original site, was constructed in 1911 in the neo-classical style.
Volkov Square
This is the centrepiece of Yaroslavl, a 16th century monastery which as well as an impressive cathedral and bell-tower also now houses a museum of local history. They also give impressive bell ringing demonstrations, the bells are hung from a free standing frame and worked by an impossible looking set of strings.
25, Bogoyavlenskaya square
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